ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 11 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 11 Summary

This chapter focuses on studying and providing students with a variety of studying strategies.  To study effectively there are some prerequisites involved.  Motivating students to study is extremely important.  Students need to know why they need to know the material.  Teachers expect students to study and know the content they have taught.  However, this is not always the case.  Teachers need to help students by guiding the students through a preview of the chapters.  Letting the students know what you deem important will help students know exactly what to study.  Preparing students for test will help improve their performance.  Telling students how many questions about each topic being tested and providing activities directly related to questions on the test.  Letting students know what type of questions, objective or subjective, will be on the test helps relieves test anxiety for many students. 

Studying effectively involves three processes students can turn these steps into three questions.  Task awareness asks “What do I study?”  Strategy awareness asks, “What strategy do I use to study?” Performance awareness asks, “Did I learn the information?”          

Note-making strategies involve students relaying the information into their own words.  This requires active thinking.   Teachers should teach students how to effectively take notes.  These involve strategy explanations, strategy modeling, real examples, guided practice, debriefing sessions, independent practice opportunities, and guidelines on how to evaluate a strategy’s success.  Two-column notes is a split-page method of note taking.  This is different from the double-entry journal.  Two-column notes are a systematic approach to organizing and studying their notes.  Teachers instruct students to use one side of a sheet of paper that has been divided length-wise by folding it in half.  Student then record the lecture notes in the right column.  Review and organize the information recorded and decide what the major concepts are and placing them in the left column.  If notes are unclear refer to the textbook.  Study notes by folding paper so the left column is visible.  This side serves as a focal point for recalling information found on the right side.        

Chapter 11 Reflection

I think that students really need to know how to study effectively.  I think it would be very beneficial to spend a day or two teaching students how to effectively take notes and study.  I think using the two-column notes would be a strategy I would recommend for physical education and health classes.  This could be used during a lecture or during independent reading or group collaboration.  I could also guide students to the information I see as important.  This will help students know how to prepare for the test because hopefully, they will make the connection between what I guide them to in throughout the lesson and what will be on the test.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 10 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 10 Summary

This chapter is about teaching students to write.  The process of writing involves a lot of time thinking.  It is important for all, even physical education teachers, to give their students many opportunities to enhance their writing abilities.  The writing process involves many steps to get to the final piece.  Prewriting involves choosing a topic, collecting thoughts and data, organizing ideas and putting them on paper, and rehearsing in your mind what to say.  Drafting is putting words into sentences.  Revising is looking at your writing again and making changes.  Editing is changing grammar, spelling and punctuation.  Post writing is making it public, like turning it into your teacher.  The steps to good writing must be taught to students.  Writing activities for content areas can be implemented easily.  A good writing assignment must be very specific.  There are five elements to choosing a good writing assignment.  Choosing a topic related to the subject but give the students a choice.  Specifying an audience and purpose for writing is necessary.  Writing in different formats can be more exciting to students.  Accommodating the writing process involves guiding students through the writing process.  Guiding students writing involves guiding them through brainstorming, semantic webs, data collection and editing. 

RAFT assignments can help teachers by implementing a lesson into a writing assignment.  R stands for role and the role is the reporter or character.  A stands for audience and the audience is a variety of imaginary ones.  F stands for format and the format can be a letter or a poem.  T stands for topic and the topic of course can vary.  Learning logs and journals are great ways content teachers can implement writing into their classrooms.  These are used primarily for informal writing.  These can also be used as a resource during a test.  Teachers can use prompts to guide students writing.  Process entries ask students to reflect on how they have learned.  Reaction entries focus more on what they have learned.  Double-entry journals the student draws a line down the center of the page and on the left-hand side they jot down a though and on the right-hand side they write down their reaction.  Triple-entry journals have three columns.  The first column students write something that amuses them from the text and writes down the page number.  The second column they write their reaction to the statement in column one.  The third column is for a peer who reads and responds to the first two entries.    

Chapter 10 Reflection

I think this chapter had great ideas to implement in a physical education or a health classroom.  I agree that the more opportunities students have to write the better writers they will become.  I would definitely use journals in a physical education class.  Students could use it to record their daily physical activity along with the time spent doing the activity.  After five days of recording their activities they could write an informal paragraph reflecting on how they felt after participating in the activities.  Daily physical activity is one of the standards in physical education.  I think I had the RAFT in my last lesson plan and did not realize it.   Students worked in groups of 4 to create a radio public service announcement or a TV commercial that warns the public about the dangers of eating disorders.  Students were to discuss the importance of getting professional help for an eating disorder in their radio announcement or TV commercial.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 9 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 9 Summary

This chapter focuses on ways teachers can get students to go beyond the facts in the text, to reflect on what they have read.  A reflective reader actively engages in the text and may come up with new meanings.  This doesn’t develop naturally for students.  Teachers have found many activities to help promote reflective thinking, student interaction, and application of ideas.  Small-group discussions are one way to engage students in reflective reading.  Teachers must follow steps when implementing small-group discussions.  (1) Assign clear and manageable tasks.  (2) Prepare and guide students for tasks.  (3) Set limits. (4) Monitor and assist group work.  (5) Moderate a whole-class follow-up.  (6) Be a model.  Peer-led literature circles are another way to engage students in reflective reading.  This happens when a group comes together to reflect and discuss a book they have all read.  Each student has a specific role.  The Peer Director is the student leader.  The Connector connects the text to life.  The Word or Phrase Finder locates colorful or funny language.  The Literary Laminator identifies sections to read aloud.  The Illustrator illustrates parts of the book. 

Reaction guides are designed by the teacher to facilitate student thinking.  Teacher identity’s a few key ideas to pursue while avoiding overcrowding the guide.

Discussion webs are graphic organizers used to encourages discussion and reflection as part of a five-step procedure.  (1) Prepare students for learning.  (2) Introduce central question and discussion web and have students discuss in pairs.  (3) Pair one set of partners with another set to discuss.  (4) Group of four gives presentation on conclusion to class.  (5) Follow-up activity involves students using their webs and write individual answers to central question.  

Intra-act procedure is a strategy that can be used in any content area.  Intra-act procedures involve group problem solving.  It is a useful way to encourage students to reflect on what they read by predicting how the meaning that they construct from their text is going to be different from, or some combination of how others in their group construct the same message. 

Chapter 9 Reflection

As a student here at SWU, I see the importance of reflection.  Reflection promotes higher order thinking skills.  This is what teachers want their students to develop.  I think there are some helpful strategies presented in this chapter.  I think small-group discussions are a great way to promote reflective reading.  Each student brings something different to the table.  Discussing their ideas with a group can spark other ideas among their peers.  Students learn from each other and giving them opportunities to do so only empower students do learn even more.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 8 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 8 Summary

This chapter focuses on increasing student vocabulary by providing several strategies for teachers implement in their classroom.  We learn vocabulary when we talk through words and schemata or concepts.  New vocabulary develops through four types of word-learning tasks (1) known word/known concept (2) new word/known concept (3) known word/new concept (4) new word/new concept.  When students encounter unfamiliar vocabulary there are four ways they can come up with the meaning: context clues, morphemic analysis, expert advice, and the dictionary.  Context clues involve looking at the words used around it.  Morphemic analysis involve looking at prefix, suffix or root words.  Expert advice can be the teacher, parent, or sibling.  A dictionary is always a great resource.  Teaching vocabulary is important to content teachers because it is necessary for students to know the words associated with a specific subject.  There are six guidelines for teaching vocabulary.  (1) Start with prior knowledge and build on that.  (2) Use the new terms often.  (3) Involve students in many activities using the new terms.  (4) Teach so students can use the word in other content areas.  (5) Lead discussions of the new terms.  (6) Make your classroom a word rich environment.  All of these guidelines are met in the strategies for introducing and teaching vocabulary discussed in our textbook.

The strategies can be done before, during, or after reading.  The hands-on experience helps students to develop the concept before the word is introduced.  This works well in math and science.  In-class presentation gives students a list of important vocabulary and briefly discusses each term.  This is less time consuming than most strategies.  Semantic mapping is a very effective strategy for diverse learners.  It involves placing key terms into a diagram called a semantic map or semantic web.  Key words are arranged in clusters and this is a way of organizing the words in the student’s memory.  The main topic is in the center and the related words map out.  Concept of definition map teaches students about three types of information that together make up the definition.  Semantic feature analysis helps students to see relationships among key vocabulary.  Possible sentences gets students actively involved in discussing, writing, and reading, all key vocabulary terms.  This technique involves (1) Teacher selecting 5-8 key words and listing them on the board. (2) Teacher also lists a few words that the students know that relate to the new words.  (3) Students select two words and create a sentence for each.  (4) Students predict what the unit is about.  (5) Student work in small groups to discuss if their sentences are possible. (6) Finally students create two new sentences reinforcing the meaning of the words.         

Chapter 8 Reflection

I can definitely use these vocabulary building strategies in a health or a physical education class.  I really like the semantic mapping strategy.   I used this strategy in my lesson on eating disorders.  Students were to create a semantic map using the terms associated with an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, bingeing, purging and obesity.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 7 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 7 Summary

This chapter’s focus is reading to learn.  Student’s textbooks are a main source for the material they learn in a classroom.  This chapter focuses on strategies to help students understand the material they read from their textbooks.  Comprehension involves several factors; the text, prior knowledge, strategies, and the interests of the reader.  However, the teacher’s instruction plays a major role in the student’s comprehension.  There are two types of comprehension instruction: student-centered and content-centered.  Student-centered comprehension instruction teaches students to use comprehension strategies separately.  Its emphasis is on reading and thinking.  Content-centered comprehension instruction is when the teacher implements materials like graphic organizers and reading guides.  Its emphasis is on understanding the information.  Comprehension strategy instruction follows direct instruction model.  For students to use comprehension strategy independently, the teacher should (1) introduce the strategy (2) model the strategy (3) guide them as they practice (4) provide many opportunities for independent practice in a variety of situations with feedback.

Comprehension guides help students comprehend key ideas in their reading.  The textbook describes three types of comprehension guides.  The first is a three-level guide that has a list of statements instead of questions.  There are three levels of statements: literal, interpretive, and applied.  Literal statements are statements of facts and concepts that are stated directly in the reading.  Interpretive statements require students to “read between the lines” or infer about ideas the author implies.  Applied statements extend beyond the text to form new ideas.  These statements are read before the reading so that the student is looking for the ideas listed in the guide.

Selective reading guides students to important information in the text.  This is similar to end of chapter reviews.  Teachers can decide themselves what is most important for the students to know regarding facts, ideas and terminology.  This is given before the reading so students have a purpose for the reading. 

Interactive reading guides are used to guide the in-class reading of students as they work together in groups or pairs.  Teacher must prepare the guide by previewing the text, deciding the main points that students should understand, and identifying the areas where students may have difficulty.  The guide has specific tasks and questions to help guide students to identify key ideas, make connections, and read critically.                  

Chapter 7 Reflection

This chapter offers many strategies to help students understand the material they are reading in the classroom.  I could see myself using the selective reading guides in a health class.  I think this would require less preparation time compared to the others.  I think students need a guide to lead them when reading so that they stay on task.  Reading textbooks is difficult sometimes and can turn students off quickly.  By implementing a comprehension guide it gives the students a purpose for the reading.  I think I will refer back to this chapter when teaching secondary students.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 6 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 6 Summary

The role of prior knowledge is important to reading successfully.  What a student knows about a topic is the most important factor in what the student will learn in the reading passage.  A schema is the way students organize and collect their thought and connect it with their own experiences.  Missing schema can affect learning.  There are three ways that a schema affects the reading process.   First, what the reader brings with them (prior knowledge) is more important to comprehension than the reading passage.  Second, what the teacher does before the reading to prepare the student to comprehend affects the reading process.  Third, the teacher should try to activate students’ prior knowledge and fill in the gaps so the students have the background knowledge necessary to comprehend the passage. 

Assessing and building prior knowledge can be done through list-group-label strategies, and graphic organizers.  List-group-label strategies is brainstorming by the whole class, in groups, or individually.  The teacher asks the students for words associated with a particular topic and lists them on the board.  Then the students group the words that have something in common.  Then the students label the groups.  Graphic organizers are a way of diagramming the students labeled groups of ideas. 

Activating prior knowledge with pre-reading strategies involves anticipation guides, and K-W-L charts.  Anticipation guides include statements that reflect important ideas in the text.  Statements that are common knowledge are less likely to stimulate discussion.  Statements on an anticipation guide should be general rather than specific.  K-W-L is a way for students to identify what they KNOW, what they WANT to find out about, and discuss what they LEARNED.  To identify what they know, students brainstorm and discuss the topic they will be reading in the text.  Students are then asked what they want to find out.  Students list their questions under the W.  The final step is what the student has learned.  Students read the text and look for the answers to the W questions.  The K-W-L- chart can be done in small groups, in pairs, or individually.        

Chapter 6 Reflection

I think this chapter will be really helpful when I begin teaching.  Activating prior knowledge is important for the student to be able to comprehend material and this chapter offers ways to do that.  I think the list-group-label strategy is a good one for a health class.  The whole class could brainstorm about what they know about health.  I think the graphic organizers are a great way to help students activate prior knowledge and follow what they are reading by answering questions along the way.  I could use the K-W-L chart in both physical education and health classes.  I could use this for an assessment once a week or so.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 5 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 5 Summary

There are many different types of assessments teachers use in schools today.  Standardized tests are prepared tests used to assess large numbers of students in core subjects.  Authentic assessment is used to describe a range of assessment tasks.  This type of assessment is made by the teacher and can be adapted for the diverse learners.  Performance assessment is given by teachers where the student is expected to reach a specific benchmark score in the area being tested.  These tests require a rubric.  International assessments test students in reading, math, and science.  National assessments began in 1971 when the U.S. Congress mandated testing in reading and writing abilities of students under the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  Response to intervention (RTI) involves assessing students to see how well they are responding to a particular teaching response.  This is done mainly with special education classes.  State assessments are sometimes “high-stakes” tests.  It could involve passing a state mandated test to graduate from high school.  These tests are usually long and have more complex reading sections and require higher levels of thinking. 

Teachers must learn as much as they can about their students language, reading, and writing skills to plan their lessons.  Interests and attitude inventories would help to learn more about the student.  A content area learning log or a journal would provide a teacher with information about the student’s attitudes and interest or their background.  Cloze passages are good ways to see if student understands what they are reading.  Grading students should be “tough but fair”.  There are five guidelines to help you become a teacher who is “tough but fair” when it comes to grading.  (1)Select assignments, tests, or projects that reflect and measure what you value most as a teacher.  (2) Provide a variety of opportunities to earn credit.  (3) Be clear about your grading system and standards.  (4) Be clear about how you will assess specific assignments and tests (use rubrics).  (5) Collaborate with students to set and achieve goals and to deconstruct the language of both official and teacher-devised standards.

Teachers use quizzes and tests most frequently in secondary schools.  Portfolio assessments are another type of assessment that offers a unique way to test students.  There are three types of portfolio models.  The ownership portfolio is a collection of a student’s chosen work which they have reflected on, and self-assessment.  The feedback portfolio is co-constructed by the teacher and student.  The accountability portfolio is a performance assessment. 

A teacher may be asked to assess textbooks.  The textbooks must align with the state standards.  There are two general approaches to judging textbooks: readability and consumer judgments.   Readability relies on two assumptions.  The first is longer sentences are harder to read than short ones.  The second is unfamiliar words make text harder to read.  Consumer judgments are based on the teacher using the book during planning, student’s interaction with the text, and see how students react to reading assignments.                        

Chapter 5 Reflection

This chapter discusses the different types of assessments that teachers may use throughout a school year.  I think as a physical education teacher I would use quizzes, tests, skills tests, and journals.  I really think that journals will be a great way to assess students outside daily activity log.  It would also be a great way to keep up with their personal fitness results.  They could have the standards for their age in the journal along with their scores throughout the year.  Hopefully, by the end of the school year they will have made progress.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 4 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 4 Summary

There are five factors that teachers must consider when planning for instruction.  The first factor is the essential questions and content objectives.  Content determines process and good planning begins with knowing what the students need to learn.  The second factor when planning for instruction is language and literacy objectives.  In order for the students to learn the objective they will need certain skills.  These skills include but are not limited to reading, writing, speaking, listening, and working with peers.  The third factor is learning material.  Teachers need to know what material is already available and what will need to be gotten.  The fourth factor is the student’s capabilities and needs.  Lesson plans should include accommodations for diverse learners.  The fifth factor is evaluation and assessments.  This is how the teacher can see if the objective was met.  Informal and formal type assessments can be made.  Tests, quizzes, check-lists, homework, journals, and projects are ways to assess students. 

Planning and educational technology is an important part of a students’ literacy learning.  Planning with the internet involves finding lessons and units.  It can also include internet activities and other technology throughout the instruction.  Structured frameworks for content literacy lessons include direct instruction, instructional framework, and reciprocal teaching.  Direct instruction includes lecture, guided practice and then independent practice.  Instructional framework was developed by Harold Herber and includes three major components: preparation, guidance, and independence.  Reciprocal teaching involves scaffolding and cognitive apprenticeship.  Scaffolding is how the teacher guides the students learning and gradually gives more responsibility for their own learning.  Teachers who use cognitive apprenticeship use the principle that “knowing cannot be separated from doing”.   Schoolwide programs such as reading apprenticeship support adolescent reading development through four dimensions: social, personal, cognitive, and knowledge-building.  This program resulted in higher scores in standardized tests in just one year.  Bette Bergeron and Elizabeth Rudenga created a five-part framework for evaluating the learning activities in a unit plan: purpose, choice, audience, resources, and relevance.  Teachers sometimes use graphic organizers to map out concepts, resources, and activities.  The final steps to unit planning involve planning activities, developing assessments, and coming up with the time frame for the unit.        

Chapter 4 Reflection

This chapter offers great insight to planning lessons.  As a physical education and health teacher it is important for me to know what my students need to learn.  I need to know their physical skills for physical education.  I need to assess where they are on their cognitive skills in order to know how to plan for future lessons.  I will do this by planning for diverse learners in each lesson plan. I will need to know what materials I will have available at the school I am working at because I may need to adjust based on equipment.  Planning a unit involves five important steps and a good teacher will work hard to plan lessons using these steps.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 3 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 3 Summary

A good learning environment is one where the students feel a teachers support as they participate in their academics.  A teacher who links content literacy with the student’s lives and gives students choices is providing her students with a good learning environment.  The learning cycle is a way of linking content literacy with student’s lives.  One way of doing this is to have the students provide as much information as possible from their experiences through the information provided.  This is known as the learning cycle.  Students’ prior experience shows their attitude towards learning new things.  The learning cycle is based on prior knowledge.   Prior knowledge generates their willingness to learn or not.  The purpose for learning is different.  Pay attention to the most important information.  Information must be understood.  Student must use new information to modify their prior knowledge.  One strategy for linking content literacy to students’ lives is called Creative Thinking-Reading Activity.  This is a brief brainstorming session using prior knowledge to come up with a solution.   Adaptive instruction give students instruction based on their capabilities, materials are chosen based on students interest, students should participate in goal setting, provide alternate activities and material for students who need extra assistance, cooperative approach to learning.  You should never view adapting instructions as “dumbing down” the curriculum.  Providing students choices in activities and materials lets the students know that you are willing to listen to them. 

There are four forms of grouping:  ability grouping, cooperative learning, cross-age tutoring, and discussion groups.  Ability grouping is used by schools to group students in one of three ways: curriculum tracking, ability-group tracking or within-class grouping.  This way the teacher can adapt lesson to offer more challenging assignments to faster learners and more the teacher can help the slower students.  This way also shows that faster learners are allowed to use critical thinking skills while slower learners recall more factual information.  In cooperative learning students work in small groups and tend to learn from one another and is rewarded as groups.  Jigsaw II is a method of grouping and each member is assigned a different topic and learns all they can about it.  Then they meet with the others who have been assigned the same topic and discuss their findings.  They then go back to the original group and explain what they know about that topic.  Cross-age tutoring is older students teaching younger students how to do their assignments.  Cross-age tutoring is usually done with two students, usually involves basic skills, and focuses on rewarding the individual student. Discussion groups provide students with opportunities to discuss their own ideas and respecting other students’ ideas.  Technology and multimedia are tools used to motivate students’ interest in content area learning.  Assistive technology provides devices and equipment for students who have disabilities.  This is a great way to provide enrichment to students with disabilities.      

Conflict resolution is something that teachers must know how to handle.  Treating conflicts as a teachable moment will allow students’ to express themselves as they participate in a strategy to resolve the conflict.  One strategy for managing classroom conflict is negotiating a solution to a problem.   Steps involved in this are 1) brainstorming the meaning of the words negotiate and negotiating 2) discuss the definitions with the class 3) list procedures for negotiating a problem.

 Chapter 3 Reflection 

I think that the learning cycle would work well in a health class when discussing the effects of alcohol and tobacco on the body.  I would also use the Jigsaw II strategy when teaching a chapter or a review unit in health class.  I think this would work really well.  I could use assistive technology information in my lesson plans for students with an IEP.  I will be sure to save the information on conflict resolution.  I’m sure I would have to refer to this some while teaching physical education in a secondary school.

ID #289170 EDUC 3273 Reading in the Secondary School

Chapter 2 Summary and Reflection 

Chapter 2 Summary

A Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky says that “mental functions begin in an individual’s social, communicative processes”.   He goes on to say that this communicative process comes from cultural, historical, and institutional contexts.  Therefore, learners can gain knowledge from socializing with others.  Social discourse is the way we speak, think, and behave socially around different groups.  Focusing on language in the classroom we need to watch for two types of language, gendered and stereotyped.  Gendered language in the classroom leads to stereotyping.  Stereotyping leads to students shape their identities with the language they hear. 

A student’s culture is important but we should not define a person by their culture, race, gender, or ability.  The passing of California’s Proposition 227, says English-only instruction is to be given to all students.  Sheltered English instruction is an approach that prepares ELL’s to understand content at same time instruction is given in English with other English speaking students.  Teachers are making adjustments to accommodate ELL’s.  Teachers are using scaffolding in instruction and providing using visual cues.  Content-based ESL uses academic content in which all students are ESLs.  The main goal is to prepare ELLs for regular English classrooms.  Different cultures have different ways of speaking this is known as dialect differences.  This can interfere with how a student comprehends what they have read or even heard.  Learning Standard English can help students replace cultural words when needed.  Reluctant readers may struggle with a certain text and try to avoid it.  Scaffolding instruction using monitoring, self-questioning, and small group discussion may provide reluctant readers with strategies to help comprehend the material.  

Adolescent ELLs are a diverse group of learners.  Factors that can impede their learning are their educational background, native language, and economic status.  Not all students learn the same way so some strategies may work for some but perhaps not others.  Challenges that can improve literacy in ELLs are as follows: 1) Lack of common criteria for identifying ELLs and tracking their academic performance 2) Lack of appropriate assessments 3) Inadequate educator capacity for improving literacy in ELLs 4) Lack of appropriate and flexible program options 5) Inadequate use of research-based instructional practices 6) Lack of a strong and coherent research agenda about adolescent ELL literacy.   

Teachers should be able to reflect on their lessons and make adjustments accordingly.  This can be done when the teacher knows about her students’ language and background.  Moving ELL students from what they know in their native language to what they need to know in English is a form of zone proximal development. 

Chapter 2 Reflection 

This chapter provides teachers information on the language, diversity and culture of future students I will potentially have and how I may need to accommodate these students.  The first priority would be to familiarize myself with the diverse students in my classroom and appreciating their differences.   Making accommodations for ELLs in lesson plans is important to show that you care about all your students.  I think in physical education classes explaining using cue words and modeling the skill being used that day for entire class will be done but I would also walk around and provide one on one help to those who did not understand.  Not all students learn the same way so making these accommodations or even changing strategies in the lesson would help the ELLs.